Gastro-Intestinal Cancer Care

The Leon Hess Cancer Center has established a Center of Excellence in Gastrointestinal
Cancer Care that focuses on multidisciplinary collaboration across the
continuum to ensure high-quality care.

Under the medical direction of
Michael Arvanitis, M.D., chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Monmouth, the center has implemented
the following three initiatives under guidelines established by the American
Cancer Society for GI cancer screening, education and surveillance:

GI Multidisciplinary Cancer Conference provides a forum for physiciansand
other health care professionals from all disciplines to evaluate and discuss
patient cases and collectively determine proper courses of treatment.
The conference is held every second Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. in MMC’s
Borden Auditorium.

Familial Colorectal Cancer Registry Program offers a multispecialty team
approach to the assessment of family risk, genetic counseling and testing,
and the treatment of polyps and cancer. The registry’s main role
is to educate high-risk patients with a family history of colorectal cancer
about the disease, placing an emphasis on the importance of lifelong surveillance
through appropriate testing. Patients enrolled in the registry remain
under the care of their referring physicians.

Assessment

High Risk Colon Cancer Assessment Clinic offers high-risk colorectal patients
“one-stop” assessment services. During an afternoon appointment
at one convenient location, patients meet with the registry’s coordinator
to document a medical history and to prepare family pedigrees. They also
undergo appropriate testing and meet with genetic counselors and geneticists.
Anyone with an inherited colorectal cancer syndrome is considered to be
at risk and can access the clinic’s services. For more information, contact: